Inaya Day
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
singer, best known for her vocal work on house music
House music
House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino American, and gay communities; first in Chicago circa 1984, then in other...
tracks such as "Horny
Horny (song)
"Horny" is a house song by producer Mousse T. and pop duo Hot 'n' Juicy, which reached number two in the UK Singles Chart in June 1998.The single entered the UK chart at number three on 6 June 1998, peaking one place higher the following week and staying on the chart for 17 weeks...
" by Mousse T, and her cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of "Nasty Girl
Nasty Girl (Vanity 6 song)
"Nasty Girl" is a song written by Prince for his protégé girl group Vanity 6. Prince gave the songwriting credit to lead singer Vanity, although he was the writer and composer. It was the second single taken from their self-titled debut album Vanity 6 and was released in 1982.The backing music was...
" by Prince
Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...
protege Vanity 6
Vanity 6
Vanity 6 was a female vocal trio assembled by Prince in the early 1980s.They released one studio album, which blended the sounds of pop, New Wave, dance music, R&B, and funk.-Formation:...
.
Early career
Day started singing in church in BrooklynBrooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
. She attended the prestigious High School of Music and the Performing Arts, and went on to study musical theater at the University of Bridgeport
University of Bridgeport
The University of Bridgeport is a private, independent, non-sectarian, coeducational university located on the Long Island Sound in the South End neighborhood of Bridgeport, Connecticut. The University is fully Accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges...
in Bridgeport
Bridgeport, Connecticut
Bridgeport is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Located in Fairfield County, the city had an estimated population of 144,229 at the 2010 United States Census and is the core of the Greater Bridgeport area...
, Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
.
Day has also appeared on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
, notably as understudy to Stephanie Mills
Stephanie Mills
Stephanie Dorthea Mills is an American R&B and soul singer, and a former Broadway star.-Career:Mills began her career appearing in her first play at the age of nine. Two years later, Mills won Amateur Night at the Apollo Theater a record six times...
as "Dorothy
Dorothy
Dorothy may refer to:*Dorothy , a given name *Dorothy, the title of an Old English dance by Seymour Smith*Dorothy , a comic opera...
" in The Wiz
The Wiz
The Wiz: The Super Soul Musical "Wonderful Wizard of Oz" is a musical with music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls and book by William F. Brown. It is a retelling of L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in the context of African American culture. It opened on October 21, 1974 at the Morris A...
, and stepped into the lead role in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
and St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
.
She has had extensive experience as a session musician
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
, having appeared on tracks by Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
, Al Green, Sean "Puffy" Combs, MC Lyte
MC Lyte
MC Lyte is an American rapper who first gained fame in the late-1980s becoming the first solo female rapper to release a full album with 1988's critically acclaimed Lyte as a Rock.-Early life:...
, Queen Latifah
Queen Latifah
Dana Elaine Owens , better known by her stage name Queen Latifah, is an American singer, rapper, and actress. Her work in music, film and television has earned her a Golden Globe award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, two Image Awards, a Grammy Award, six additional Grammy nominations, an Emmy...
, Monie Love
Monie Love
Simone Riscoe , better known by her stage name Monie Love, is an English emcee and former radio personality in the United States...
, Big Daddy Kane
Big Daddy Kane
Antonio Hardy better known by his stage name Big Daddy Kane, is an American rapper who started his career in 1986 as a member of the rap group the Juice Crew. He is widely considered to be one of the most influential and skilled MC's in Hip Hop...
and Jonathan Butler
Jonathan Butler
Jonathan Butler is a singer-songwriter and guitarist. His music is often classified as R&B, jazz fusion or worship music.-Biography:...
. Day has also written songs for Randy Crawford
Randy Crawford
Randy Crawford is an American jazz and R&B singer. She has been more successful in Europe than in the United States, where she has not entered the Billboard Hot 100 as a solo artist...
and Bootsy Collins
Bootsy Collins
William Earl "Bootsy" Collins is an American funk bassist, singer, and songwriter.Rising to prominence with James Brown in the late 1960s, and with Parliament-Funkadelic in the '70s, Collins's driving bass guitar and humorous vocals established him as one of the leading names in funk...
, and has writing credits on Missy Elliott's
Missy Elliott
Melissa Arnette "Missy" Elliott , is an American rapper, singer-songwriter, record producer, and actressA five-time Grammy Award winner, Elliott, with record sales of over seven million in the United States, is the only female rapper to have five albums certified platinum by the RIAA, including one...
"Gossip Folks" (the second single from her Under Construction
Under Construction
Under Construction is the fourth studio album by American rapper Missy Elliott, released by The Goldmind Inc. and Elektra Records on November 12, 2002 in the United States...
album), on which Day co-wrote the hook and provided backing vocals.
House music
Day was introduced to house musicHouse music
House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino American, and gay communities; first in Chicago circa 1984, then in other...
in 1996 when she was asked to do a demo
Demo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
. She met German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
s Boris Dlugosch
Boris Dlugosch
Boris Dlugosch is a house music producer from Germany. Boris is usually known for funky/deep house tracks, mostly produced in conjunction with Mousse T. and Michi Lange, his partners in the Peppermint Jam Records label....
and Mousse T, who produced a dance
Dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...
single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
"Keep Pushin", which went on to reach #2 on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
dance charts. She then sang chorus for Mousse T's track "Horny", which later gained in popularity when additional vocals from the duo Hot 'N' Juicy were added to the song. "Horny" reached #1 on the Billboard dance chart. The follow-up song "Hold Your Head Up High", with Booom!, reached #6 on the Billboard dance chart.
In 2004 she sang on a track by the Australian dance producer mrTimothy
MrTimothy
Mr Timothy is an Australian dance music producer and DJ. Over the years, he has worked on projects by a wide variety of artists including Madonna, INXS, Felix da Housecat, E Smoove, Inaya Day, Brandy, Cher, Craig David, and Steve Silk Hurley.In 2004, he recorded "I Am Tha 1" as Mr Timothy with...
called "I Am Tha 1", credited to Mr Timothy featuring Inaya Day, which went to the top of the Australian dance charts and top 30 in the Australian pop charts. She also sang on his next single "Stand By Me" later that year. "Nasty Girl" was first released in Australia, reaching the top 20, and it was then released in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in July 2005, and reached #9 there. Later that year, she also guest featured on "The Glamorous Life", a single by T-Funk, an alternate alias of mrTimothy. In June 2007, Day released a cover version of the 1988 Big Pig song, "Breakaway".
Discography
- "Can't Stop Dancin" - Cruz and Bugz - #1 Billboard dance chart
- "Movin Up (Take My Problems to the Dance Floor)" - Mike Cruz featuring Inaya Day - #2 Billboard dance chart
- 2000 - "Feel It" - with DJ Dome - UKUK Singles ChartThe UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
#51 - "I'm Touched" - DJ Dove featuring Inaya Day
- "Shout It Out" - Inaya Day meets Louis Benedetti
- 1999 - "Just Can't Get Enough" - Harry "Choo Choo" RomeroHarry RomeroHarry Romero, better known as Harry "Choo Choo" Romero, is an American DJ and record producer. He is linked with the label Subliminal with Erick Morillo and Jose Nunez, with whom he also produced and remixed several tracks, as 'Constipated Monkeys', 'The Dronez' or 'Ministers De La Funk'. The trio...
Presents Inaya Day - #39 UKUK Singles ChartThe UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... - "I Will" - MongobonixHarry RomeroHarry Romero, better known as Harry "Choo Choo" Romero, is an American DJ and record producer. He is linked with the label Subliminal with Erick Morillo and Jose Nunez, with whom he also produced and remixed several tracks, as 'Constipated Monkeys', 'The Dronez' or 'Ministers De La Funk'. The trio...
featuring Inaya Day - "Hold Your Head Up High" - Boris Dlugosch Presents Booom!
- "Keep Pushin' On" - Boris Dlugosch remix
- 2004 - "I Am Tha 1" - Mr Timothy featuring Inaya Day
- 2004 - "Nasty GirlNasty Girl (Vanity 6 song)"Nasty Girl" is a song written by Prince for his protégé girl group Vanity 6. Prince gave the songwriting credit to lead singer Vanity, although he was the writer and composer. It was the second single taken from their self-titled debut album Vanity 6 and was released in 1982.The backing music was...
" - produced by Mousse T. and So Phat! (cover of the Vanity 6Vanity 6Vanity 6 was a female vocal trio assembled by Prince in the early 1980s.They released one studio album, which blended the sounds of pop, New Wave, dance music, R&B, and funk.-Formation:...
song) - 2006 - "Stand By Me" - Mr Timothy featuring Inaya Day
- 2007 - "The Glamorous Life" - by T-Funk featuring Inaya Day
- 2007 - "Breakaway"
- 2008 - "Say You Will"
- 2008 - "Natural High" - Michael Woods Feat. Inaya Day
- 2009 - "Take Me Up" - Inaya Day vs. Leggz & Femi B
- 2009 - "Got 2 Get Up" - mrTimothyMrTimothyMr Timothy is an Australian dance music producer and DJ. Over the years, he has worked on projects by a wide variety of artists including Madonna, INXS, Felix da Housecat, E Smoove, Inaya Day, Brandy, Cher, Craig David, and Steve Silk Hurley.In 2004, he recorded "I Am Tha 1" as Mr Timothy with...
featuring Inaya Day - 2009 - "Let There Be" - Inaya Day and Antoine Dessante
- 2010 - "Superstar" - Inaya Day and DJ Eako
- 2010 - "Never Had Another Love" - Mike Cruz presents Inaya Day
- 2010 - "Better Days" - Inaya Day and Native Sons
- 2010 - "All I'm Sayin' (Just Hold On)'" - Inaya Day and Nick J
- 2010 - "Joy" - Inaya Day and Antoine Dessante
- 2010 - "Til The Morning Comes" - Inaya Day vs Diego Ray & Nick Corline
- 2010 - "Do The Right Thing" - Quentin Harris and Inaya Day
See also
- List of number-one dance hits (United States)
- List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart